The cold and wet weather of fall brings to mind a newlywed couple who found themselves stranded on a remote country road. Unable to go any further, they left their car and set out on foot toward a dimly lit farmhouse. An elderly couple met them at the door with a kerosene lamp. Explaining their predicament, the young man asked, “Could you put us up for the night? Any place on the floor or the couch would be just fine with us.”
As he was speaking, a few grains of rice slipped from the young lady’s hair and fell to the floor. The elderly couple looked at each other and said, “By all means, you can have the guest room. Get your things from the car while we freshen it up a bit for you.”
The next morning the newlyweds got up early, not wishing to disturb the old couple. They dressed quietly, put a ten dollar bill on the dresser, ventured into the living room and found the wife on the couch and her husband in his easy chair sound asleep. They had given the newlyweds their only bedroom.
For me, that story is a modern illustration of the beautiful story of the widow in today’s gospel. Like her, the elderly couple gave not from their surplus but from their meager resources. Both this couple and the widow gave generously and joyfully.
The two stories invite us to ask ourselves how we give. It has been said that there are three kinds of givers. Grudge givers who say, “I hate to give.” Duty givers who say, “I ought to give.” And thanks givers who say, “I want to give.” So, which one are you? Do you give grudgingly? Do you give dutifully? Or do you give because you want to?
Some of you may be moaning, “There goes Father again, talking about money.” Actually, I am talking about more than that. I am talking about stewardship, which to me demonstrates how we can ideally relate to God. Once you personally choose to become a disciple of Jesus Christ, stewardship is not an option; it is the way of life for those who follow Christ for the sake of experiencing the kingdom of God.
Stewardship is about giving of ourselves, that is, our treasure, time and talent for the sake of building up the kingdom of God. For example, how do we give of our time to God in Sunday worship and daily prayer? How do we give of ourselves and our time to the members of our family? How do we give of ourselves and time to our neighbor? How do we give of ourselves and time to our parish?
Do we give grudgingly because we have to, because if we don’t, we will be criticized or penalized in some way? Do we give dutifully out of some sense of obligation? Would we rather not give but feel obligated to do so? Or do we give thankfully, because we want to? We give generously as the widows did.
If our giving is less than it should be, less than that of the widow or the elderly couple, than I would say Jesus is speaking to you in a special way, directly and personally in today’s gospel, prodding you to experience a new approach to giving.
I don’t know who Richard Braunstein is, but he said something that makes perfect sense here, especially if we see ourselves as a grudging giver. “It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving.”
Statistics show that few Catholics truly tithe. I read somewhere that over time the average Catholic continues to gives the same amount while the average Protestant gives the same percent of their income. Does that ring true for you? I suspect what lies beneath our reluctance to share thankfully rather than dutifully is fear and distrust. Fear that if we let go, there won’t be enough left for us. We don’t trust that God really will provide for our needs. We think that if we tithe, we won’t be able to pay our bills or if we give up several hours each week to do volunteer work, we won’t have enough time to take care of our families.
Both widows made what could be called a leap of faith, giving from their substance, unlike the scribes who gave from their surplus. They ultimately trusted in God when the facts suggested that their faith would be in vain. The first one used up the last of her flour and oil to bake a cake for Elijah, the other widow gave her last two coins to the treasury, walking away empty-handed. Neither gift was much but yet they were generous because they were sacrificial. Their stories testify to the belief that God can and does bring much out of little, but so long as we give with the grudging attitude of Scrooge, we deny God the chance to demonstrate that to us personally. When we put our money where our heart is, we will see the value of stewardship.
The radical message of today’s readings and of stewardship is that we must place our confidence in God rather than in our material possessions. That isn’t easy for many of us to do simply because we lack humility. We like being in control. Only a humble person recognizes his or her need for God. A humble person is certain that the presence of God is fundamental to one’s happiness.
Stewardship is an opportunity to share your gifts of treasure, time and talent with God. Like marriage or parenthood, this is a joyful expression of the love we have been given by God and that we loving return to God. Simply put, through stewardship, we give back to God a portion of the gifts we have received. Stewardship is not a one time collection though; it must be planned and lived out, which is why you received three cards in the mail and it must be sacrificial. It is living out our commitment to be Christ-centered instead of self-centered.